Many accreting X-ray pulsars show a low-energy soft excess in their spectra,whose origin is still unclear. The study of this feature is essential to castlight on the physical processes on-going in these sources. Due to the lowabsorption, the transient pulsars in the SMC, which can reach high luminosities(Lx>1E38 erg/s), are ideal targets for these studies. Very recently, we obtainedan observation of RX J0059.2-7138 in outburst: it allowed us to detect and studyat an unprecedented level of detail its soft excess, discovering severalemission and absorption features, which provide strong constraints on the sourceemission processes. We propose a ToO observation of another transient pulsar inthe SMC, in case of a bright outburst, in order to characterize its soft excess.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2016-05-07T06:07:27Z/2016-05-07T14:47:27Z
Version
17.56_20190403_1200
Mission Description
The European Space Agencys (ESA) X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM-Newton) was launched by an Ariane 504 on December 10th 1999. XMM-Newton is ESAs second cornerstone of the Horizon 2000 Science Programme. It carries 3 high throughput X-ray telescopes with an unprecedented effective area, and an optical monitor, the first flown on a X-ray observatory. The large collecting area and ability to make long uninterrupted exposures provide highly sensitive observations. Since Earths atmosphere blocks out all X-rays, only a telescope in space can detect and study celestial X-ray sources. The XMM-Newton mission is helping scientists to solve a number of cosmic mysteries, ranging from the enigmatic black holes to the origins of the Universe itself. Observing time on XMM-Newton is being made available to the scientific community, applying for observational periods on a competitive basis.
European Space Agency, Mr Nicola La Palombara, 2017, 'Study of the spectral soft excess in high luminosity transient pulsars', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-o0gakhl
